Nick Costa of Sure Fire Soul Ensemble launches solo project

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble guitarist Nick Costa has launched a new solo project called My Mynd. Costa introduced the project at the beginning of the year with the release of two tracks, “In My Mynd” and “Back Pocket,” both of which are up on Spotify. He says that the idea for this new outlet for his songwriting began about eight months ago, after he was ready to take on a project outside of Sure Fire.

“My background is in funk and soul jazz, and I’ve played in a lot of those types of bands,” he says. “And the more bands I’ve been affiliated with, the more I’ve wanted to compose something on my own.”

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My Mynd’s sound is somewhat different than that of Sure Fire Soul Ensemble. It’s less rooted in the funk of The Meters or The J.B.’s and has more of a contemporary R&B sound. However, it’s still soulful and has plenty of groove, some of which is courtesy of drummer Jake Najor, whose drumming appears on both tracks.

“I was just trying to come up with a sound that resonated with me,” Costa says. “I wanted to maintain some of the elements of what I’ve done before. But this is a little darker.”

Outside of Najor, Costa is the only musician on My Mynd’s recordings, and he’s in the process of working on more. Eventually, he plans to turn the project into a live band, but for now he’s still working on getting his studio material just right.

“I’ve been taking my time,” he says. “I want to focus on studio quality work for the time being. I’m waiting to perform these songs live. My plan is to figure out how to have a full sound ready to go rather than minimizing the sound of the recordings.”